Buying compost - what is a fair price?

[rot]

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HG,

I don't see a high value in nutrition in mushroom compost. If I were to go down that path I'd think of it as a substrate and mix it in with fresh ingredients for further cooking. Kind of a hamburger helper type thing.

Then again, the name of the game is getting the mostest organic material into the ground the fastest. The tract home lots I'm hanging in seem to need all they can get. I pretty much just top dress everything so I'm sure mushroom compost would serve for that as a fast and cheap alternative to buying the good stuff or waiting for some bins to cook. Dump coffee grounds and cover with the mushroom stuff. It's gotta be cheaper than miracle grow and more effective in the long run.

As I recall from our local grower, it is pasteurized first so that kind of makes me think it's limited from the get go. Then this grower has intentionally limited the ingredients. They pretty much just use race track horse manure and bedding. Not a rich mixture to my intuition. I would hope the pasteurization and the high temperatures later would mitigate race track drugs in the various excretions but god knows what drugs those might be.

I'm not excited about mushroom compost. Just cheap and available if I choose. Efficacy is dubious for my money. Maybe just call it mulch.

two cents

[The Helpful Gardener]

We are on the same page, my friend... couldn't have said it better...

HG

[rot]

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Recent posting on cragslist.

I suspect they're getting their stuff from the Las Virgenes (aka Malibu Canyon) Water Reclamation plant. I've been meaning to catch one of their quarterly tours.

>"Class A", "Exceptional Quality" biosolids and micro recycled woodchips. Is an excellent organic soil conditioner properties are 2.8% total nitrogen, 1.1% phosphorous and 0.1% potasium. Will aid water retention in light soils and it helps to break up and aerate heavier soils, so less watering is needed. Most lawns require 100 cubic feet. I will deliver and place the compost on your property at your direction. You will see results in 2 days with no burning of the soil and no bad smell like steer manure. I charge $200 per Delivery of 100 Cubic Feet - thats cheaper than H-Depot charges for this same quantity. <
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[rot]

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>
Its spring, time to have some rich compost rototilled into your soil. Or, just have some compost delivered to you. Locally farmed compost, it is very dark, rich and clean. I can also spread seed or many other needs you may need. Its a good time to grow some drought resistant grass.


Compost Costs: (delivered and spread 2" deep)

500 sq ft = $45

1000 sq ft = $85

1500 sq ft = $120

2000 sq ft = $155

(Discounts for just delivery and drop off, not spread).


Rototill Costs:

0-500 sq ft = $45

501-1000 sq ft = $70

1001-1500 sq ft = $95

1501-2000 sq ft = $120

(Discounts for having both rototilling and compost delivered). <
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[The Helpful Gardener]

Hmmmph.

Okay, "biosolids", as some are calling sewage sludge is cheap, to be sure. And the heavy metal issues of years back seem to have been addressed for the most part. But it is still loaded with low level pharmaceuticals and birth control and the concentration of protonaceous infectants (called [url=https://www.microbiologybytes.com/virology/Prions.html]prions[/url] is some six to seven time natural concentrations. As prions are starting to be linked to more than just mad cow, I'm not a fan. Yale University just found a [url=https://opa.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=6444]prion link to Alzheimers[/url]. And there is a number of fisherman from NC sick with very Alzheimer-like symptoms due to a prionic toxin from the waste streams of massive pig farms.

Plus it isn't really compost is it? It is digested by anaerobic organisms, not aerobic, and therefore not compost... too much splitting hairs? But it sounds like they added it to wood chips, and maybe they composted that? And is there enough heat to finally break down prions? Or waste stream add-ons like antibiotics and detergent additives? (although I have seen studies that say the soil biology seems to handel the low level AB...)

Plus spring is a lousy time to seed lawns; best done in fall... this guy is kinda fast, I think...

HG

[GeorgiaGirl]

Hmmmph.

Okay, "biosolids", as some are calling sewage sludge is cheap, to be sure. And the heavy metal issues of years back seem to have been addressed for the most part. But it is still loaded with low level pharmaceuticals and birth control and the concentration of protonaceous infectants (called [url=https://www.microbiologybytes.com/virology/Prions.html]prions[/url] is some six to seven time natural concentrations. As prions are starting to be linked to more than just mad cow, I'm not a fan. Yale University just found a [url=https://opa.yale.edu/news/article.aspx?id=6444]prion link to Alzheimers[/url]. And there is a number of fisherman from NC sick with very Alzheimer-like symptoms due to a prionic toxin from the waste streams of massive pig farms.

Plus it isn't really compost is it? It is digested by anaerobic organisms, not aerobic, and therefore not compost... too much splitting hairs? But it sounds like they added it to wood chips, and maybe they composted that? And is there enough heat to finally break down prions? Or waste stream add-ons like antibiotics and detergent additives? (although I have seen studies that say the soil biology seems to handel the low level AB...)

Plus spring is a lousy time to seed lawns; best done in fall... this guy is kinda fast, I think...

HG

Well fiddlesticks. I had been all excited to find out that my county provides FREE compost to its residents... but I'm pretty sure it's sewer sludge stuff. They call it BioBlend. I've pasted below what their website says about it. So I should steer clear of this?

Compost Facility

This bio-conversion facility using cutting-edge technology. This saves precious landfill space and turns residential waste into a revenue-generating soil-like compost product, called Bio-Blend. The fully operational plant can process up to 300 tons of waste daily for a 60 percent reduction in household materials going to a landfill. Such a reduction is accomplished without introduction of any chemical stimulants or outside sources of heat and ultimately provides a significant benefit to the environment.

Facts about BioBlend:

* Product registered as a soil amendment/conditioner by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
* Approved by the Georgia State EPD for use as compost material appropriate for landfill closures.
* Certified as a Class A compost by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under 40CFR 503 regulations.

BioBlend Features:

* Improves soil structure
* Inhibits rain runoff and soil erosion
* Reduces irrigation requirements
* Stimulates natural soil microbiology
* Builds soil humus and porosity

Composting Operation

The initial phase is the mixing of municipal solid waste or residential waste with treated sewage sludge in the appropriate proportions to maintain the optimal carbon/nitrogen balance. For three days, this combination of sludge and waste is agitated in rotating drums called “digestersâ€

[GeorgiaGirl]

One other question -- I wouldn't use that "BioBlend" free compost on anything I was growing to eat, in any case... but would it be okay to use for shrub/lawn/flower soil? or would these birth control residue etc. run off and pollute the water stream or possibly my food crops (although my veggie/herb garden will be on higher ground that the flower beds/lawns so for me personally it wouldn't be an issue)?

[The Helpful Gardener]

I was most concerned with food applications, but even dermal contact was enough in the case of the NC fisherman (a specific case, with Pfisteria producing the prionic contamination). I do believe that there are uses for this product, and blending with more conventional composts (which is the municipal stuff, although I'd really like to see that operation too...) is a likely scenario. So maybe for the trees and shrubs, but not if I have a well, and not if I am worried about the run-off into food production or adjacent waters...

Golf courses are a good place..., recreational fields, places where contact is less chronic and prolonged and where these supplements might help reduce or replace chemical inputs. But I think until the prionic content angle has been sussed out a little more, I remain hesitant to recommend it for home use...

HG

[GeorgiaGirl]

Thanks, HG... I think the small risk is enough to keep me away from trying any of the free compost... now if I could only convince my next-door neighbor to stop using chemicals on his lawn!

[The Helpful Gardener]

First keep your side of the street clean, and then the other guy might learn by example. I have found that to be a better strategy than calling people on it; they tend to get defensive and start yammering about "not illegal" and "I can do what I like in my yard." If only it stayed in their yards, right? But it does not, and folks need to know that, just don't waste too much breath...

HG

[rot]

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Regarding the 'biosolids' source I posted previously.

I went to the website for the suspected source of supply for this entrepreneur, https://www.lvmwd.com/index.aspx?page=173, and the language used in the craigslisting comes from the website above.

Also noted when drilling down to the pdf's posted there, they mention:
>Community Compost is a blend of dewatered, "Class A", "Exceptional
Quality" biosolids and recycled woodchips.1 <

Where footnote 1 states:
> "Exceptional Quality" is the highest grade possible and indicates the compost does not contain heavy metals.<

No mention of pharmaceuticals, protonaceous infectants or, WMDs.

I too am concerned with water treatment facilities becoming, have become, gargantuan bacterial darwinian experiments spewing the next generation of supergerms. We'll just mix mix in excrement from every sicko out there with anti-biotics, chlorine and, industrial solvents and see what survives. What's not to like? Certain gummints would pay good money to see the results.

I can hardly wait.
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[GeorgiaGirl]

Rot, that is absolutely terrifying. I haven't drunk tap water in years but the thought of all the residues polluting our water supply make me not want to shower in the stuff -- let alone water my garden with it!!

[The Helpful Gardener]

The finally treated water is not the issue here (until they spike it with hydrofluorosalicic acids, chlorine and chloramine. At least the chlorine gasses out after 24 hours or so...the other two; not so much... )

The stuff that comes through as sewage sludge is the stew that Rot was talking about, and he's right, it's an experiment... Sure the water is clean, but what are we doing with this STUFF we cleaned out? It's like talking about clean coal; sure we can clean up the gasses, but what is left from the clean-up? Huge lagoons of poisonous cr*p that can really ruin someone's day... [url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98959566]and regularly do[/url]. The problem is not solved until all the clean-up is complete; it's like announcing "Mission Accomplished" before anything really gets done... We must learn to manage our waste streams and turn them into a tangible, safe product; I do believe it is doable, it just isn't being done... yet ther are working models we have barely begun to explore despite decades of research and a [url=https://www.oceanarks.org/rst40_Impact_On_Water_Quality.php]few working models[/url] as old as that... And they [url=https://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2266879]DO work[/url]...

HG

[rot]

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Clarification here:

When I said: "...concerned with water treatment facilities becoming,..." I should have said "...concerned with WASTE water treatment facilities becoming,...".

w/apologies rot
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[GeorgiaGirl]

I know that's what you were talking about, but there is mounting evidence that these residues are not being completely eliminated from the resulting "clean" tap water!

I can't recall the specific study that especially sickened me (it was a study that showed traces of birth control hormones and Prozac specifically in the tap water) but here are a few news results I just found in a quick search that are just as frightful:

https://www.popsci.com/environment/article/2008-03/tainted-tap-water

https://www.thenhf.com/articles_54.htm

https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517131,00.html

"The Associated Press today announced that it has found traces of dozens of pharmaceuticals in the drinking water of an estimated 41 million Americans"... similar findings have been discovered in Canada and the U.K. drinking water supply... this garbage isn't being totally removed from our tap water! Anyway, rant over... back to drinking my spring water...

[rot]

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Too many people on the planet.

Lets hope we can check our own population growth before nature does it for us.
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